Pretty soon he was near enough for the boys to call to him.
"Hey!" exclaimed Russ. "Have you got 'em?"
He supposed, of course, that the man would know what he was talking about. And so it might seem, for the man made answer:
"Well, I had 'em but I lost 'em. But I'll get 'em again."
"Oh, daddy will be so glad!" cried Laddie. "Did you lose 'em out of your coat?"
The man looked up quickly.
"Lose 'em out of my coat? Why, no," he said. "I lost 'em off my hook—two of the biggest fish I've caught this day! But I'll get 'em back—or some just like 'em which will be as good. Hello, youngsters," he added with a smile. "Do you live at Mrs. Bell's place?"
"We're just visiting her," explained Russ. "She's our grandma. We're the six little Bunkers."
"Oh, ho!" exclaimed the man with a laugh. "That's so—there are six of you! I can see now," and he looked beyond Russ and Laddie to where Rose, Vi, Margy and Mun Bun were playing on the sandy point and having lots of fun.
"But are you fond of fishing, that you ask if I lost 'em?" the man went on.